Fossilised tracks suggest earliest known evidence of mammals at the sea

Fossilised tracks suggest earliest known evidence of mammals at the sea (Anton Wroblewski/University of Utah)

Fossilised footprint tracks which have been dated to 58 million years ago may represent the earliest evidence of mammals gathering by the sea, researchers say.

The findings suggest mammals may have first used marine habitats at least 9.4 million years earlier than previously thought, in the late Paleocene (66-56 million years ago), rather than the Eocene (56-33.9 million years ago).